The earthworking machinery industry has for years experienced problems in generating cutting equipment which will have a long life. It is well known in the industry that equipping the edge of a cutting element with carbide inserts improves the useful life of the cutting element. However, this heretofore utilized practice is labor intensive in positioning the carbide inserts relative to the cutting element and there maintaining them until bonded or otherwise fixedly connected to the element.
One heretofore utilized practice of Caterpillar Inc. was to cut a groove in the edge of the cutting element, place the carbide inserts in the groove and then deform the walls of the cutting element groove into forcible contact with the inserts. It was discovered in utilizing this method that if the inserts were not kept extremely short in length, about one inch, that the carbide inserts were cracked and broken after deformation and sometimes further broken after use of the cutting element.
Analysis disclosed that the cracking and breaking of the inserts occurred in a multiplicity of different directions relative to the longitudinal axis of the insert. After breakage of the insert and after the walls of the cutting element became worn, these broken off pieces, which were sometimes relatively large, would be released and disengage from the cutting element.
This labor intensive operation and the breakage and loss of insert portions represented a waste of manpower, material, natural resources, and down time for the machine.
The present invention is directed to overcome one or more of the problems as set forth above.